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Program Team Accomplishments in 2009

By Lauren Raskin Ramos, MPHDirector of Programs, AMCHP

Implementing preconception health for adolescents, strengthening leadership development for Title V staff, providing MCH epidemiology skills-building and training, addressing emerging issues such as H1N1, providing resources to support state systems for autism and developmental disabilities, defining a comprehensive system for adolescent health, identifying state models implementing preconception health, creating a central database of MCH programs that work, providing training on evidenced-based approaches to teen pregnancy prevention, and supporting state and local capacity to reduce racial inequities in infant mortality address racism – these are among the many and exciting accomplishments of AMCHP’s Program Team in 2009.

Throughout 2009, AMCHP’s Program Team continued to assure alignment of our work to the most pressing and ongoing state MCH needs through resource development, training, and capacity-building activities. The Program Team worked to tailor efforts to the changing realities of state budgets and travel constraints, to maintain and build partnerships with other national organizations, and to coordinate and leverage resources to improve MCH outcomes at the state and local levels. We received new grant funding through both governmental and private sources, and we expanded staff capacity in Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN), including establishing a new position focused on family involvement.

In the coming year, we look forward to continuing the work listed above and to launching new efforts such as working with chronic disease programs around integration of MCH and chronic disease, defining the future of our data and assessment support to state and territorial programs, implementing enhanced workforce and leadership development programs through both the New Director Mentor Program and the Family Scholars Program, expanding support to states around autism and developmental disabilities through peer to peer exchange, growing Innovation Station, our database of effective MCH models, and implementing a comprehensive evaluation and assessment plan for all of AMCHP’s programmatic efforts. We are pursuing new technology and new ways to reach states with resources and trainings; we are exploring supports for states around implementation of a life course perspective across Title V programs; we are excited about increasing efforts to support peer to peer technical assistance around adapting best practices; we look forward to identifying state tools to reduce infant mortality; and to working with partners to support medical home implementation.

Below is a snapshot of 2009 highlights from each of AMCHP’s programmatic areas and a preview of some of what you can anticipate seeing from AMCHP programs in the year ahead. We look forward to learning more about your training, resource, and information needs and to working with you in the coming year to improve MCH outcomes!

Adolescent Health

New Adolescent Health Funding from the Maternal and Child Health BureauIn 2009, AMCHP was awarded a new five-year cooperative agreement, The Partnership to Promote Adolescent Health in States from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau to create information and resources that will assist AMCHP members in developing improved approaches for delivering adolescent and young adult health programs at the state level. Over the next five years, AMCHP will be working in partnership with other grantees, the State Adolescent Health Resource Center/Konopka Institute for Best Practices in Adolescent Health at the University of Minnesota and the National Adolescent Health Information and Innovation Center at the University of California, San Francisco, along with the National Network of State Adolescent Health Coordinators, to build state-level maternal and child health program capacity to improve the health and safety outcomes for adolescents and young adults. For additional information, contact Sharron Corle.

Adolescent Health System Capacity Assessment Tool AMCHP’s Adolescent Health Project revised the Adolescent Health System Capacity Assessment Tool to assist state Title V programs in assessing capacity to support effective state adolescent health programs. Modeled after CAST-V, the Adolescent Health System Capacity Assessment Tool is a set of assessment and discussion tools that address six areas of capacity to support effective state adolescent health programs: commitment to adolescent health; partnerships for adolescent health; program planning and evaluation; surveillance and data systems; education and technical assistance; and, policy and advocacy. AMCHP, in partnership with the National Network of State Adolescent Health Coordinators and others, originally released the tool in 2005. Recently, AMCHP and key partners created a strategy to revise the tool that would make it more “user friendly.” New features include separate facilitator pages, participant pages, and handouts. For additional information, contact Sharron Corle.

Evidence-based Approaches to Teen Pregnancy, HIV and STI PreventionAs we’ve seen by the recent rise in teen pregnancy and the steady rate of STIs and HIV among adolescents, the prevention of teen pregnancies, births and HIV and STI infection remains a major challenge for MCH programs. Since 2007, AMCHP has been working in collaboration with key public health partners such as CityMatCH and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), to build state and local MCH program capacity to implement evidence-based approaches to teen pregnancy, HIV and STI prevention. In 2009, AMCHP and NACCHO partnered to work with three state-local teams, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Pennsylvania, to enhance the collaboration between health and education partners to support the use of evidence-based approaches to teen pregnancy prevention. In addition to awarding seed money to support the state team efforts, AMCHP and NACCHO staff also provided in-state trainings to increase awareness and support of evidence-based approaches to teen pregnancy, HIV and STI prevention, and plan future meetings to help the teams strategize collaborative practical next steps that will propel the success of their efforts related to teen pregnancy. Look for “success stories” from this effort in the near future! For additional information, contact Sharron Corle.

National Stakeholders Meeting – ReconveneMany states implement efforts to address HIV, STD, or pregnancy prevention among school-aged youth; however, agency structures, funding requirements, and limited time can inhibit collaboration and coordination between various programs. Recognizing that in this time of economic uncertainty there is greater need to increase collaborative efforts, pool and leverage resources, increase communication between diverse stakeholders, and use new technology to effectively implement innovative solutions to prevent HIV, STDs, and unintended pregnancies among adolescents, AMCHP continued to partner in the National Stakeholders Collaborative (NSC), a partnership between AMCHP, the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD), the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD), and the Society of State Directors of Health, Physical Education and Recreation (Society). In January 2009, the NSC hosted the National Stakeholders Meeting – Reconvene (NSM-R). This meeting launched a year long capacity-building process by bringing together teams of state health agencies, state education agencies, and other stakeholders who had previously participated in a National Stakeholders Meeting to strengthen their partnerships and enhance strategies for improving adolescent reproductive and sexual health programs and policies. California, Kansas, Michigan, and Missouri participated in this process, which included knowledge and skills building workshops, strategic action planning for collaborative work aimed at comprehensively addressing adolescent sexual health, and ongoing technical assistance including webinars and mini-grant opportunities. State snapshots of some of the efforts from this project will be available in the New Year. For additional information, contact Lissa Pressfield.

Preconception Health and Adolescents Action Learning CollaborativeAMCHP’s Adolescent Health and Women’s Health Teams, in partnership with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), began work to bridge the gap between women’s and adolescent preventive health efforts through a new Action Learning Collaborative. The overall goal of the Preconception Health and Adolescents Action Learning Collaborative (PHA ALC) is to work with state Title V programs to build partnerships and create strategies that focus on wellness across the lifespan. State teams from Missouri, Oregon, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Utah – composed of state departments of health and education staff, members of community-based organizations, youth leaders, and other key stakeholders – came together for an intensive meeting in November 2009 to develop goals and strategies to integrate the CDC’s Preconception Care Guidelines into adolescent health. The meeting kicked off an 18-month project aimed at building a foundation for the development and implementation of innovative efforts around this topic. The state teams identified common priorities and established goals, such as: educating and motivating teens to choose and practice healthy behaviors now and in the future so that there will be healthy pregnancies, healthy babies, and healthy families; developing a model policy for integrating youth with disabilities in preconception health efforts; and developing strategies to integrate preconception health concepts into the department of education core health curriculum. States will work with youth, parents, primary caregivers, and/or educators to raise awareness about preconception health and the lifespan approach. AMCHP is committed to supporting these teams and working to disseminate information about the strategies, successes, and challenges, so that other states can learn from this cutting edge work. For additional information, contact Sharron Corle.

Making the Case: A Comprehensive Systems Approach to Adolescent Health and Well-Being In 2008, AMCHP’s Emerging Issues Committee formed the Adolescent Health Workgroup (AHWG)–an ad hoc committee of members and experts on adolescent health. This group was formed in response to state challenges around fragmented approaches to adolescent health issues, and a growing need to establish a comprehensive framework that would more effectively support adolescent health, development, and well-being. The AHWG created a white paper, building on the concepts of the Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Initiative and the life course perspective, which provides a foundational framework and justification for systems work at the state level as an effective approach for improving adolescent health. It is clear that the priority health issues for adolescents, reflected in the Title V state performance measures, Healthy People 2010 and Healthy People 2020, cannot be addressed by the health sector alone; but rather must be approached with dedicated support from various sectors. State public health agencies, in particular MCH programs, have a unique leadership role in improving the health of all MCH populations, including youth, and can be the innovators for a comprehensive approach to adolescent health and well-being. In late 2009, AMCHP’s Board of Directors approved the white paper which includes four main recommendations for moving this work forward. Opportunities to engage in follow-up work are available! For additional information, contact Lissa Pressfield.

Best Practices

Over the past year, AMCHP made significant progress towards the goal of becoming a central resource for state Title V programs on “what’s working” in MCH. Through our Best Practices project, Innovation Station, AMCHP collected 25 new practices from across the United States covering diverse topics and populations, from infant mortality reduction, to injury prevention, to transition for CYSHCN, and promoting preconception health. AMCHP is especially excited about the recent launch of the Innovation Station, an online, searchable database of emerging, promising and best practices. Other key achievements in 2009 include highlighting promising practices during AMCHP’s annual conference by bestowing Best Practice awards to California, Colorado and Virginia, and launching a collaborative with national partner organizations interested in best practices to develop a plan to leverage our diverse organizational knowledge and expertise to advance and promote best practices. For additional information, contact Darlisha Williams.

Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs

State Public Health Coordinating Center for AutismAMCHP completed its first year of implementation of the State Public Health Coordinating Center for Autism (SPHCCA) to support state efforts to strengthen systems and services for children and youth with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities. A key activity of 2009 was the launch of the State Public Health Autism Resource Center (SPHARC) to provide a central online site for states to learn about state autism activities and resources, share promising practices, link to federal and national partners, and follow the Combating Autism Awareness Initiative activities. SPHARC serves as a means to facilitate communication among states to learn from successes and challenges as states develop state autism plans and work to strengthen services for children, youth and families with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities. Accessed through the AMCHP website, SPHARC provides autism resources, promising practices, and state snapshots accessible for all states. AMCHP also created a password-protected part of SPHARC to serve as a technical assistance site to the nine MCHB-funded state autism implementation grantees: Alaska, Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin, A key activity in 2009 was the launch of technical assistance audiocalls for state grantees on the issues of cultural competency, incentivizing providers to screen for autism and developmental disabilities, and standards for care coordination. Each of the technical assistance calls was recorded and is available on the SPHARC web site. AMCHP also developed its first document, “AMCHP Environmental Scan: State Title V Program Response to Autism Spectrum Disorder and Other Developmental Disabilities,” and along with MCHB and the Association of University Centers on Disabilities, planned and participated in the 2009 Combating Autism Awareness Initiative (CAAI) grantee meeting, including organizing a special session for state grantees. For additional information, contact Treeby Brown.

Best Practices for CYSHCNThrough support from the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, AMCHP produced a paper of best practices for CYSHCN, focused on state best practices that contribute to a strong system of care for CYSHCN. Models presented cover key systems components such as financing, care coordination, cultural competency, family centered care, medical home, health information technology, service integration, palliative and respite care, and transition. This paper includes examples from over 20 states and involved the input of 50 experts. The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health is using this paper to help inform future funding efforts for CYSHCN in California and can also serve as a resource to all Title V programs seeking best practices in CYSHCN. For additional information, contact Treeby Brown.

Emergency Preparedness and Response

Identifying the Role of MCH in H1N1 ResponseThrough the guidance of AMCHP’s Emerging Issues Committee, AMCHP fielded a short assessment of all state maternal and child agencies in August to understand the role of MCH programs in H1N1 preparedness and response. Findings from this survey were summarized in a short issue brief, entitled, The Role of MCH Agencies in H1N1 Response, which also includes roles that state MCH programs can continue to play in preparedness and response efforts throughout the fall and winter. It is available here. Subsequent to the release of the issue brief, AMCHP convened an ad hoc advisory group to assist the CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities in understanding key communication, resource and other needs in addressing special populations, in particular CYSHCN. For additional information, contact Lauren Raskin Ramos.

Evaluation and Assessment Project

In 2009, AMCHP staff continued efforts to define a uniform approach to evaluating all AMCHP programmatic activities. This extensive effort entailed compiling existing evaluation tools and questions into a single database, adopting a core set of evaluation measures to be used across AMCHP based on AMCHP’s mission and goals, and creating an internal work group to serve as an ongoing resource as AMCHP formally implements the evaluation and assessment plan in the coming year. Once implemented, AMCHP will be able to regularly analyze the impact of programmatic activities and report to members and funders on AMCHP member satisfaction with activities, whether efforts are relevant to members’ work, and how AMCHP is increasing member knowledge, skill and capacity through programmatic activities. For additional information, contact Lauren Raskin Ramos.

Setting Health Priorities

Using Health Dollars Wisely: What States Can Do to Create the Health Systems They WantSince 2005, AMCHP has collaborated with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), the National Governors Association (NGA), the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and CityMatCH to convene an annual Health Priorities Meeting: Using Health Dollars Wisely: What States Can Do to Create the Health Systems They Want. The overarching goals of this seminar, sponsored by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, are to improve the understanding of maternal and child issues by key state decision-makers, foster their collaboration, and help them identify specific steps they can take together in their own states to improve the health status of women and children in their states. In 2009, AMCHP again partnered in this effort and worked with seven state teams, which included the Title V Director, from Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada and Ohio.

Women’s and Infant Health

Eliminating Racial Inequities in Infant Mortality In 2008, AMCHP, CityMatCH, and the National Healthy Start Association (NHSA) — with funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation — launched the Partnership to Eliminate Disparities in Infant Mortality to eliminate racial inequities contributing to infant mortality within our nation’s urban areas. The following six teams are participating in the 18-month long Action Learning Collaborative (ALC): Los Angeles, California; Aurora, Colorado; Pinellas County, Florida; Chicago, Illinois; Columbus, Ohio; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The emphasis of this ALC is on innovative approaches to reducing racial inequities in infant mortality in urban communities, with particular attention paid to the impact of racism. During 2008-2009, representatives from the six teams attended two onsite meetings of the ALC designed to build upon one another to address the concepts of race, racism and the impact of stress on birth outcomes. Teams have also increased their skills around communicating about race, racism and culture in order to build support and engage partners and developed strategies to take on as a part of this work. During the remainder of the project, which will conclude in 2010, staff and teams will evaluate their work and produce recommendations for communities looking to undo racism and decrease racial inequities for women of childbearing age. For additional information contact Jessica Hawkins.

Creating State Tools on Smoking CessationAs part of the Smoking Cessation for Women of Reproductive Age Initiative, AMCHP, along with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America created a comprehensive toolkit that serves as a framework to assist states interested in creating state collaborations. The toolkit includes screening and referral recommendations, sample projects and lessons learned from the Smoking Cessation for Women of Reproductive Age Initiative. For additional information, contact Jessica Hawkins.

A Focus on Preconception HealthTo share strategies in preconception health, AMCHP launched a series of case studies highlighting states that are working extensively on promoting preconception health. To date AMCHP has released case studies on California and Hawaii that include a focuson the leadership role Title V agencies can play in promoting preconception health. Additional case studies will be released in the coming year! For additional information contact Vanessa White.

Providing Training and Epidemiology Skills-building for MCH ProfessionalsIn 2009, AMCHP conducted five MCH epidemiology skill building trainings in partnership with the CDC’s Division of Reproductive Health and MCHB. AMCHP hosted three training workshops prior to the 2009 MCH Epidemiology Conference in December and two Data Skills Building Sessions at the AMCHP Annual Conference. The trainings focused on enhancing partnerships and developing a common set of data skills for MCH data professionals and the state data program staff. Over 190 federal, state and local MCH staff was trained. Training topics included the Practical Approaches to State MCH Data Records Linkage Practice: Supporting Policy and Programs;Concentration in Basic Geospatial Methods (GIS) for Public Health Professionals training; Communicating Epidemiology Research Results Effectively to Intended Audiences; Community Health Assessment for MCH Programs and Policy Practice; and Practical Approaches to Evidence-Based Evaluation Practice in Public Health. For additional information, contact Henry Maingi.

Data and Assessment Mini-Grantees AMCHP awarded data mini-grants to state MCH teams in Nebraska, Kentucky and Minnesota to coordinate and conduct internal capacity-building activities in data and assessment to inform programmatic and policy practices. AMCHP also awarded data mini-grants to Michigan and Alaska to focus on adolescent preconception and reproductive health data. For additional information, contact Henry Maingi.

State and Local MCH Epidemiology Professional GroupAMCHP increased efforts to support the newly formed State and Local MCH Epidemiology Professional Group by providing resources to assist incommunication, such as funding conference calls and creating a collaborative workplace using SharePoint. This group, working with key national partner organizations like AMCHP is working to strengthen MCH epidemiology at the state and local levels and to strengthen and improve the health outcomes of MCH populations. For additional information, contact Henry Maingi.

Workforce and Leadership Development

Title V Workforce Development SurveyBetween May and August 2008, AMCHP fielded the Workforce Development Survey to gain a national profile of the state programs’ components and functions, and identify priority training needs and preferred strategies and challenges. The final version of the Title V Survey Instrument is available on the AMCHP website, as well as regional graduate and continuing education and training needs tables. To download the documents, visit AMCHP’s website. A workgroup of Title V professionals and academic partners is developing final tables based on the national data and a peer reviewed journal article is under development. In early 2010 additional tables will be posted. For additional information, contact Librada Estrada.

New Director Mentor Program (NDMP)In order to strengthen the New Director Mentor Program, AMCHP worked over the past year to revise the program to consist of a 12 month curriculum that also incorporates the Maternal and Child Health Leadership Competencies. A workgroup of the AMCHP Workforce Development Committee, consisting of new and seasoned Title V Directors and a family representative is guiding this effort. The self-directed curriculum will contain 12 modules, each focusing on at least one competency and will compliment the ongoing mentoring activities of the NDMP. The revised program will be introduced at the AMCHP Annual Conference. For additional information, contact Librada Estrada.

Maternal and Child Health Public Health Leadership InstituteThe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was awarded a five year grant to develop a Maternal and Child Health Public Health Leadership Institute. AMCHP, along with CityMatCH, Family Voices, and the National Center for Cultural Competence, is an active partner in the Institute, contributing to the development and marketing of the executive-education program. The program will combine three on-site retreats and distance education components and is intended to develop mid and senior level leaders serving MCH populations. For more information, visit the program website or contact Librada Estrada.

Family Involvement

Family Scholars ProgramIn 2009, AMCHP supported 11 scholars from Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Oregon, and Wisconsin and three mentors from Alaska, Illinois and Wisconsin to participate in the AMCHP Annual Conference. During the Annual Conference Family Scholars and Mentors participated in several sessions, networked with state Title V staff, parent professionals and other families, visited legislators and aides on Capitol Hill, and provided input on program activities.

AMCHP revised the Family Scholars Program (FSP) this year to consist of a 12 month curriculum to provide additional leadership skills development to Family Scholars centered on seven of the MCH Leadership Competencies. The curriculum will include monthly webinars, conference calls, required readings, an Individual Development Plan, networking, and a mentoring relationship. Through their participation Family Scholars and Mentors will continue to develop as family leaders as they gain a greater understanding of Title V and how it works in their state or territory; increase their involvement in Title V in an advisory, voluntary or staff capacity; expand their professional network; and increase their understanding of current and emerging issues impacting women, children and families at the national level. For more information, visit the Family Scholars Program website or contact Librada Estrada.

Strengthening Family Involvement in Title VThe AMCHP Family & Youth Leadership Committee (FYLC) developed a publication, “AMCHP Family Delegate Fundamentals Fact Sheet.” The purpose of the fact sheet is to address questions regarding what is an AMCHP Family Delegate, outline a Delegate’s potential roles and responsibilities including how a Family Delegate can support families and programs, what states and territories should keep in mind in identifying an individual for this position, and examples of support states might provide to an AMCHP Family Delegate. The fact sheet is available here. If you would like to know who the AMCHP Family Delegate for your state or territory is or have questions about family involvement at AMCHP, please contact Grace Williams.

Over the last year AMCHP has continued to identify how states and territories are engaging families and youth and developing family leaders. Five states that successfully engage families and family delegates in Title V work will be highlighted in a “Family Involvement Issue Brief.” The issue brief, which will be released shortly, features the family involvement programs in Colorado, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York and Washington. For more information about this publication, please contact Treeby Brown.

The FYLC developed recommendations specifically for AMCHP on how as an organization AMCHP should consider training and enhancing the competency of Family Delegates and increase family involvement. Each AMCHP committee and workgroup now involves at least one family member to assure that the family perspective is represented throughout the organization. For more information, please contact Librada Estrada.

A Look Ahead: Program Team in 2010

Adolescent Health

Adolescent Reproductive & Sexual Health Disparities SummitAMCHP will hold the Adolescent Reproductive & Sexual Health (ARSH) Disparities Summit — a day-long learning and skills-building opportunity on Saturday, March 6 during the AMCHP Annual Conference. One of the priority objectives of this innovative Summit is to provide the opportunity to bring together key MCH leaders, adolescent health partners, and others to explore the issue of adolescent reproductive and sexual health disparities and how state MCH programs can work more effectively on this issue.

The ARSH Disparities Summit is the culmination of over two years work by AMCHP staff and partners to identify key capacity supports needed by state MCH programs. A critical need identified by AMCHP members was related to data, specifically how to use data effectively. In addition to the skills-building session on how to frame/re-frame data for decision makers, the Summit agenda will include a keynote address by Dr. Robert Blum, from Johns Hopkins University, a perspectives panel of key federal, national, state and foundation partners and future planning sessions with participants.

Best Practices

In the coming year look for additional emerging, promising and best practices to be included in Innovation Station as AMCHP strives to collect at least one submission from every state. AMCHP will also pursue efforts to evaluate the Best Practices program and begin connecting states through peer to peer technical assistance to learn how to adapt and implement practices from other states.

Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs

In 2010, the State Public Health Coordinating Center for Autism (SPHCCA) will continue to refine and develop the public and private State Public Health Autism Resource Center (SPHARC) website to provide more resources and references for autism grantees and other states as well as greater sharing and dissemination of best practices and policies in developing systems of care for children and youth with ASD. In addition, SPHCCA will continue to hold technical assistance calls on such subjects as state financing systems for autism services, the uses of telehealth in systems of care for children and youth with ASD, and approaches to transition services for children and youth with ASD. SPHCCA is also in the process of developing a peer-to-peer training program matching grantee states with non-funded states which it hopes to launch in spring 2010. Stay tuned to get involved!

Partnering to Implement Medical Homes

AMCHP will be working with MCHB and national partners to gather information to assist Title V agencies with building medical homes for children, including those with special health care needs. AMCHP will be hosting a meeting on March 10, 2010 after the AMCHP Annual Conference in partnership with MCHB, the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to convene six state teams (including a Medicaid representative, Title V representative, and another stakeholder) to discuss how Title V and Medicaid agencies are collaborating to build medical homes and link all children and youth through policy and systems change. AMCHP will also be collaborating with AAP on resources, such as a joint issue of Pulse focused on medical home to identify and promote effective medical home practices.

Women’s and Infant Health

Reducing Infant Mortality AMCHP will continue efforts to support states identify effective practices to reduce infant mortality. From 2004-2006, AMCHP supported the State Infant Mortality Collaborative (SIMC) project to address the U.S. international ranking in infant mortality, underlying factors contributing to this mediocre performance, and future infant mortality reduction challenges and opportunities. In 2010, AMCHP will follow-up with five states that participated in SIMC (Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana, Missouri and North Carolina) to gain insights on states’ materials and products developed following the collaborative, as well as the institutionalization of collaborative partnerships and program improvements. In addition, AMCHP will partner with the Association of SIDS and Infant Mortality Programson a series of webinars focused on SIDS/SUID. For additional information, contact Jessica Hawkins.

Chronic Disease & Maternal and Child Health Program IntegrationAMCHP is partnering with the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors’ Women’s Health Council and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Reproductive Health on an initiative called “Healthy Women across the Lifespan.” The overarching vision for the partnership is that maternal and child health and chronic disease programs are working together to improve health outcomes for women and children. A pilot project on gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is currently under development. The project will bring together state teams to foster integration of MCH and chronic disease programs in the development of initiatives that work to delay or prevent Type 2 diabetes among women with a history of GDM. For additional information, contact Vanessa White.

Defining the Future of AMCHP’s Data and Assessment Activities AMCHP will pursue several efforts to gather input and guidance to help inform future directions for AMCHP’s Data and Assessment activities. AMCHP will convene a State Data Translational Work Group to identify ways, including training, where AMCHP can enhance its data support to states to strengthen data trainings and build data capacity at the state and local public health agencies. In addition, AMCHP will conduct a comprehensive retrospective evaluation of the MCH EPI and AMCHP annual data skills-building trainings held between 2005-2009. This information will be essential in enhancing AMCHP’s data and assessment training program. For additional information, contact Henry Maingi.

Workforce Development

Providing Leadership Training to Title V ProgramsAMCHP will introduce the revised New Director Mentor Program at the 2010 AMCHP Annual Conference. A cohort of new directors will initiate the program in the summer of 2010. AMCHP will also continue to collaborate with the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in the development of the MCH Public Health Leadership Institute. Additional tables related to the Title V Workforce Development Survey will be developed and posted on AMCHP’s website. As new AMCHP training and educational activities are developed, the MCH Leadership Competencies will be integrated. For additional information, contact Librada Estrada.

Family Involvement

Strengthening Family Involvement in Title VIn 2010 the AMCHP Family & Youth Leadership Committee (FYLC) will develop a formal definition for family leadership for AMCHP and will assist AMCHP staff implement internal recommendations for how to better engage AMCHP Family Delegates. AMCHP will also implement the first year of the expanded Family Scholars Program. For additional information, contact Grace Williams.